Ski touring is a form of skiing where both uphill and downhill travel are possible while wearing the skis. Typically touring is done off-piste and outside of ski resorts. Typically, the bindings and/or boots are configured to allow for free movement of the heel of the skier to enable a walking pace and walking movement, as in Nordic skiing or telemark skiing.
Going uphill or across a slop while ski touring also requires grip so that a ski can glide forward but not slide backwards when weighted. In order to travel uphill on skis (or specialized split-board snowboards), the skier can apply “skins” to the bottom surface of the ski. A skin is configured to adhere to the bottom of the ski and be attached to the tip and tail of the ski and is sized to have approximately the same length and width as the ski. The skin includes a bottom layer of short nylon or mohair fibers that extend from the base of the skin in the direction of the tail end of the skin to provide directional friction that allows the ski to glide forward but not slip backwards.
Skins can effectively prevent skis from slipping backwards on slopes of a moderate angle. This maximum incline that can be climbed using skins depends on snow conditions (i.e., decreases on an icy slope or in hard-pack and slick snow conditions where the skier weight dispersed throughout a ski does not break through the snow crust and can leave the skier sliding backwards), however, in general, skins can be effective up to around a thirty to thirty-five degree incline. If the incline is too steep for the skins to be effective, the skier can switchback (i.e., traverse back and forth across the slope), which increases the length of the climb, or remove the skis to hike the slope, which can be less efficient. In addition or alternatively, the skier can also attach ski crampons that increase the skier's purchase (i.e., grip) on the slope.
A ski crampon is a generally U-shaped device that attaches to the underside of the ski boot or the binding. An exemplary ski crampon is depicted in FIG. 1. As shown, the ski crampon is a rigid structure that includes two metal blades, each of which is approximately a few inches wide and a few inches tall, that are connected by a bridge. The bridge is configured to attach the crampon to the skier's boot or ski binding. The blades straddle the two sides of the ski, one on each side, and extend down into the slope so as to cut deeper into the snow than the skin.
Ski crampons are attendant with a number of drawbacks. A main drawback to using ski crampons is that they can only be attached for use when the ski-boot is disengaged from the binding. This can be a precarious endeavor when on a steep slope as it can be difficult for a skier to safely disengage the boot from the binding to remove the ski, attach the crampon to the boot or the binding and then re-attach the ski without inadvertently losing balance or allowing the ski to fall down the slope. The process is also time consuming and is ultimately inconvenient even on a low angle slope, particularly in deep snow, which a skier can easily sink into when his/her weight is not supported by the entire surface of the skis.
Another drawback of ski crampons stems from the fact that the blades straddle the sidewalls of the ski and are attached to the boot or the binding. This causes the majority of the forces applied to the crampon to be transferred to the attachment points (e.g., the boot or binding attachment) rather than the underside of the ski, this is particularly evident when on icy terrain and the majority of the skiers weight is on the crampon rather than distributed across the entire base of the ski. The configuration of ski crampon blades, which are positioned to the side of the skis and extend linearly along the side of the skis, localizes the additional grip a) to the two sides of the ski as opposed to the underside of the ski, and b) in a lengthwise manner (small cross/section when viewed from the front). Moreover, ski crampons are also limited in that they have a dedicated attachment point (e.g., underside of boot or ski binding attachment) and are not moveable to an alternative location. Accordingly, it is not easy or convenient to use multiple crampons on a single ski, which limits a skier's ability to further increase purchase depending on conditions. Even if a ski crampon could be fixed at multiple locations, it would nonetheless be inconvenient and time consuming to re-locate crampons to an alternative location and, as such, would not easily be performed while touring. Ski crampons also require complex attachment mechanisms and sizeable metal blades that can be heavy, are difficult to store compactly in a skier's pack. Also they can be costly accessories. In addition, due to the fixed width of crampons, ski crampons do not accommodate skis having a larger width than the crampon and therefore requires skiers with skis of varying widths to purchase multiple crampons. Other disadvantages to a traditional ski crampon includes binding specific construction as binding manufactures often make ski crampons binding specific, so a skier with multiple skis has to buy multiple crampons. Moreover, because the teeth of ski crampons are not replaceable, the ski crampons have limited usability after the metal spikes of a ski crampon are worn or damaged, for instance, from striking a rock and bending the teeth of the ski crampon.
As such, it is desirable to provide a skin cleat device that can be used to improve purchase while ski touring, can be easily attached to the ski (or ski and skin) without requiring a skier to disengage his/her boot from the ski bindings, can distribute the forces received by the device directly to the underside of the ski, can be configured to have replaceable studs, can have studs that are selectively positionable, and can provide a cross-wise area of friction and addresses the foregoing deficiencies of ski crampons. It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.